ghtly twisted round to get at the mouthpiece. Mersennus (b. 1588)
says that the Fife is the same as the Tibia Helvetica, which was
simply a small edition of the Flauto Traverso, or German Flute. That
is, the Fife of those days was much the same as the modern Fife of the
cheaper kind, with the usual six holes, and a big hole near the
stopped end, where the breath was applied. The instrument was
therefore held _across_ [traverso] the face of the player, whose head
would be turned sideways, and hence comes Shylock's description of it
as the 'wryneck'd' fife.

In _Much Ado_, Benedick draws a distinction between the Drum and Fife
and the Tabor and Pipe. The former (see _Othello_ III. iii. 353) were
of a decided military cast; whereas the latter were more associated
with May Day entertainments, bull-baitings, and out-of-door amusements
generally. The Tabor was a little drum, the Pipe (as explained before,
in Section III., about Autolycus) a tiny whistle with only three
holes. The two were played simultaneously by one person.

_Much Ado_ II, iii, 13. Benedick, of Claudio in love.

_Ben._ I have known, when there was no _music_ with him but
the _drum and the fife_; and now had he rather hear the
_tabor and the pipe_: ... but till all graces be in one
woman, one woman shall not come in my grace. Rich she shall
be, that's certain; wise, or I'll none; ... of good
discourse, an _excellent musician_, and her hair shall be of
what colour it please God.

Besides these more civilised 'pipes,' the country-man's pipe of
cornstalk is mentioned by Titania, in _Mids._ II. ii. 8. This was
really a 'reed,' not a whistle of any kind.

The tabor leads one on to the Tabourine, which was the full-sized
military drum, corresponding to the modern side-drum. See _Troil._ IV,
v, 275. 'Beat loud the tabourines,' and _Antony_ IV, viii, 37, 'our
rattling tabourines.'

The drum supplied the great proportion of military music in those
days, besides having its importance as a means of signalling orders to
the troops. This is dealt with more fully in the chapter on Stage
Directions.

Parolles' sham anxiety about a lost drum is mentioned fourteen or
fifteen times in _All's Well_ III. v. and vi.; and IV. i. Parolles
earns his nickname of 'Tom Drum,' in Act V. iii. 320.

The following is an interesting passage of a more serious kind--

_K. John_ V, ii, 164.

_Lewis_ [Dauphin.]
Strike up the _drums